Christmas Traditions: Kids and Crafts

This is my favorite time of the year! Every year from Halloween to New Year’s Day is so crazy busy, but so much fun, especially once you have children. I think it is very important to set up your own family traditions for you and your kiddos to look forward to each year. I know my kids start talking about our holiday traditions and what they are looking forward to right around the Fourth of July.

One thing that I do with my kids is to create a Christmas ornament craft to include on the Christmas presents that we send off to the Grandparents, aunts, uncles, and Godparents all across the country. This may sound like a lot of work, but let me explain:

1) Pick an easy craft; nothing too complicated (think Popsicle sticks or pipe cleaners). No need to be Martha Stewart here (especially when they are really young). I have gone over board and regretted the time spent rushing to get them done, instead of making it fun for everyone.

2) It is “from” the kids, so the bar is already set low on expectations.

Cookie cutters, polymer clay and stamps

3) Let the kids paint with one color, everything looks better when there is just one color.

5) If you can, add the recipient’s name or initial; this makes it extra special.

The kids love that they are creating the “gift” for their relatives that they don’t get to see very often. Now that I have done these projects for a couple of years, I wish that I had added the year to our handmade ornaments and gifts, so we could keep track of what we made each year.

And now with Pinterest it is easier to find ideas and categorize them for future projects! Here are some great ideas for this year.

So what are you family traditions with your family that your kids start looking forward to before the year is even over? Does anyone else spend lots of time at the craft store like me?

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About Angela

Angela Barako has loved living in Scottsdale for the last 15 years with her husband, Tom, plus one dog and two cats. They have twin nine-year old daughters and a six-year old daughter who thinks she is much older. She is the current owner of SMB and has enjoyed being apart of the group for over 5 years. She also likes to read lots of books, is a big college football fan (Go Big Red and Sun Devils!), tries to keep up on scrapbooking, plays tennis, and loves reality TV. Contact Angela at angela@scottsdalemomsblog.com or follow her on Twitter at @angelabarako

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[…] for others. A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about our annual holiday gift-making tradition (you can read it here). Basically, we make one small gift or ornament for the children’s grandparents and god parents. […]

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Scottsdale Moms Blog is a community blog run by moms who live right here in the Valley.

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